Government urged to tap OFWs for PPP projects

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration should consider tapping overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in its Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects to allow them to participate in efforts aimed at promoting growth, a former Cabinet official said.

Roberto de Ocampo, who served as Finance secretary of the Ramos administration, said providing OFWs opportunities to participate in the PPP would help the government attain an inclusive growth.

“If you want to utilize the opportunity of the PPP to the maximum, then utilize it by bringing in more foreign investments and more participation of the larger number of the public and that’s what you mean by inclusive growth,” De Ocampo said in a recent interview.

De Ocampo said in countries like the United States, members of the middle class have investments in huge companies and pension funds.

“By having OFWs participating in a big fund like that and having a fund like those (in US), they become significant investors in significant projects like PPP. You have an increasing number of population participating in large projects,” De Ocampo said. 

“That’s one of the things I think that is important if you want to have a society that is increasingly becoming more balanced than lopsided,” he added.

De Ocampo believes the OFW sector, composed of about 10 million migrant workers, has a huge potential as PPP investors.

He said the government’s move to sell bonds to Filipino migrant workers is a step in the right direction.

“Right now, the government is beginning to tap remittances. I think they floated bonds that target OFWs. They could go beyond that…There are many of them (OFWs), it’s like 10 million in the population,” De Ocampo said

Last year, the government sold about $500 million worth of debt papers to OFWs in line with the efforts to raise funds for its key projects.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the government is considering selling more bonds to Filipino migrant workers given the huge demand for the debt papers. Purisima said the US could be the main market for the so-called OFW bonds.

The Aquino administration is resorting to PPP to bankroll vital infrastructure projects without putting too much pressure on the deficit, which is expected to hit P290 billion this year.

 The government has launched the first five PPP projects with a total amount of P47.1 billion.

The five projects are the Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) Link road project, Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway phase II project, privatization of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) 1 operation and maintenance project, the privatization of Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 operation and maintenance project, and the North Luzon Expressway-SLEX connector project.

The bidding for the contract to operate MRT 3 and LRT 1 was supposed to be held last July 11 but this was postponed after Transportation Secretary Jose de Jesus resigned.

Last week, a group of good governance advocates called on the government to ensure that the PPP would not lead to an economy controlled by an elite few.

The Movement for Good Governance (MGG), composed of former government officials, civil society leaders and academicians, said the PPP can tap the private sector’s resources in funding projects but cannot generate state revenues.